


I'd Stop The World If It Gave Us More Time

by smallestwriter



Series: Time Flies Like An Arrow [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hunter!Stiles, Kate is still terrible, M/M, Slow burn i guess?, Soulmate AU, Stiles was adopted by the Argents, soulmate timer kinda thing where it counts down to the moment you'll meet your soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 22:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18375578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallestwriter/pseuds/smallestwriter
Summary: “Okay, look. I get that you feel some kind of responsibility here, to protect Beacon Hills and after what happened the last time we were there, you want to redeem yourself. I get that. But aren’t you forgetting something here?” he reminded them, Victoria huffing uncomfortably. “Allison,” she ground out and Stiles threw his hands in the air.“Yes. Allison, your daughter. What do you think she is going to say when you casually throw in that we’re moving back to Beacon Hills considering you grabbed us by the nape of our necks and dragged us out of there after the Hale fire with basically no explanation whatsoever?”“We didn’t do that,” Chris protested and Stiles rolled his eyes. “Semantics. I am on board with going back to Beacon Hills to take care of that alpha, you know I am. But first you need to explain to me what we’re going to explain Allison why we’re moving back there. And you’re already working on that excuse, how about you come up with an excuse why we left there the first place?”ORStiles has been adopted by the Argents when he was eight and everyone has a timer that counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate for the first time





	I'd Stop The World If It Gave Us More Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic after being 'retired' for so long. When I got the idea for this fic I thought it's gonna be a cute little ficlet with 2k words but HELLO here we are, with 17k.  
> Title is from Lukas Graham's 'Love Someone'.  
> Mistakes are aaaaall mine, feel free to point them out to me, I ain't a native speaker.
> 
> Come cry with me on tumblr: yessterekthings

**_0000 days 00 hours 3 minutes 01 seconds_ **

Stiles’ heart thrummed in his chest, turning around every two steps he took. The scene of Peter clawing out Kate’s throat kept replaying in his head over and over, like it was stuck on a loop. Even though he knew that Kate was a really bad person and probably a little sick in her head (more than a little bit, actually) he wanted her to serve her time for what she did and not get murdered right _in front of his eyes_.

The mud squelched beneath his sneakers as he maneuvered in between trees, hoping to get as much distance between him and Peter as possible, hoping that someone was on their way to him. He turned around, looked up when he heard a loud howl, echoing through the woods and he gripped the gun tighter in his hands.

He knew that his chances to survive the night were pretty small. He had already used the one advantage he had, and he couldn’t fight Peter on his own. Stiles’ head whipped around when he heard leaves rustling behind him and he raised his gun, ready to pull the trigger when a hand came up, covering the barrel of the gun as the bullet.

“Please lower the gun, Stiles,” an unfamiliar voice said and as Stiles dropped his hands to his sides and came face to face with a very attractive, dark haired guy, the timers on their wrists simultaneously vibrated, glowing a soft green.

“It’s you,” they both whispered, as warm, brown colored eyes met a pair of hazel eyes, which seemed to be flashing a bright blue for a millisecond.

Of course Stiles would meet his soulmate on the night that was probably the last night of his life.

**_6345_ ** **_days 05 hours 24 minutes 07 seconds_ **

The number was etched on Stiles’ timer the moment he was born. It changed steadily, working like a clock, exact and split by the second. A small timer, that sat on the inside of his wrist, counting down to the moment where Stiles would meet his soulmate for the first time. A small vibration on the wrist would occur when the countdown hit zero, making it impossible to miss the moment he was supposed to meet his soulmate, even if he wanted to.

Even though Stiles hadn’t met his soulmate yet, he has heard countless stories about soulmates meeting for the first time, tripping over each other at the grocery store, wrists buzzing. A person being rear ended, getting out of the car angrily to argue with the person responsible, only to be interrupted by his buzzing timer, before even one word could be shouted out, anger quickly being replaced by awe and utter astonishment.

On the other hand, there also were stories that weren’t so happy. Timers being covered up because of bad experiences, that lead to the conclusion that there was no such thing as soulmates. Stiles even has heard of people trying to cut out their timers, unsuccessfully. The timer was a part of a person, no matter how much they tried to cut it out, all they achieved was hurting themselves. People, whose timer was blackened out, charred, like a scar that will never fade. Those were the worst. It meant that their soulmate was gone, dead. The timer couldn’t function properly on its own. There were always two matching timers, sometimes even three, but never just one. It didn’t work like that. So, the timer malfunctioned, the second the other timer lost its power source: the human heart.

Soulmates. But Stiles guessed, if they lived in a world where monsters as werewolves existed, the concept of soulmates wasn’t as bad, was it?

**_3590 day_ ** **_s 15 hours 06 minutes 47 seconds_ **

Stiles had learned about werewolves when he was only eight years old. It was six months after the Argents had adopted him. He was put into an foster home because both of his parents died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

The timer was the first thing Stiles looked at when meeting a new person. Like the sheriff that told Stiles that his parents had passed away because of the accident; the timer was charred and burnt.

Chris and Victoria Argent’s timers on the other hand glowed a bright green, so that made them soulmates. Their daughter Allison, who was a couple months older than Stiles, had a grey timer (2834 days, 02 hours, 51 minutes, 02 seconds), which was common for kids. Most people found their soulmates when they were teenagers or in their twenties.  
They seemed like a really nice family and even though Mr. and Mrs. Argent were really nice, and their daughter Allison tried very hard to make him feel homey, Stiles had trouble settling in during the first few months, which was only natural for an eight year old, after losing his parents in an accident. He observed them quietly and noticed that even though they tried very hard to hide some , Stiles still picked up a few rather strange things.

How Mr. Argent seemed to leave the house at night very frequently, especially on the nights before the full moon. And he never left alone, it wasn’t Mrs. Argent though, he left with a group of guys, all armed with guns and crossbows, some with grey timers, some with green. Stiles saw them through the banister of the seconds floor when he woke up one night and wanted to get himself a drink. The shed, in which Mr. and Mrs. Argent forbade Stiles and Allison to enter, held even more guns than the garage (Stiles knew that because he snuck in both and counted the guns, he wanted to know in what kind of household he was put in). Besides the scary number of guns, it also held different bullet cases engraved with flowers.

At first Stiles thought Mr. Argent was some licensed hunter who liked to hunt after sunset. But why would there be flower engravings on the bullet cases? Stiles figured it could be like with candy. Like how on Almond Joy wrappers, there were almonds and a coconut on the design of the candy wrappers. Maybe the flowers had some effect on the animals that killed it quicker. The thing that really bugged Stiles was, that any animal (or human!) should die if you shot it in the right place, no matter what kind of bullet it was right? Wrong.

After an intense research at the local library, Stiles had found out that all the flowers had one thing in common. They were poisonous for wolves, more specifically for _werewolves_. Since Stiles was a very imaginative eight-year-old, this was delighting for him. If soulmates existed, why shouldn’t werewolves? So, Stiles did what he always did when something interested him a lot: he read more books about it to find out as much as he could.

By the time Mrs. Argent picked him up from the library, Stiles knew all that the library could provide regarding werewolves and lycanthropy.

“How was the library sweetie?” Mrs. Argent asked as she pulled out of the parking lot. Stiles was buzzing with excitement, but he knew if he started asking about it now, Mrs. Argent would just deny it. He had to have proof. So, Stiles looked at his timer to calm himself down.

“Good. I learned a lot.”

⏰ ⏰⏰

It was just two days later when Stiles found what he was looking for. He was walking home from Theo’s place (3285 days 14 hours, 27 minutes, 10 seconds and counting) when he saw Mr. Argent’s car parked in the drive way. It seemed like there was nothing wrong with it, but when Stiles walked by it and saw it up close, he saw the scratches on the side of the car. His eyes widened comically, and he stepped closer, putting his hand against his scratch marks, and his breath hitched in his throat.

The claw marks were too far apart to be from an animal. As he followed the scratches with his fingertips, he knew that those scratches came from a human hand. But not a human hand with finger nails, but claws.

That night, Stiles laid in his bed, unable to sleep. Mr. Argent had left just after everyone went to bed and Stiles knew that he was supposed to sleep, but he couldn’t. The moonlight streamed in through the windows of his room; he hadn’t bothered to pull the curtains closed.  He didn’t want to miss Mr. Argent coming home.

Stiles was just about to doze off when he heard a car pulling up in the drive way. He got out of bed immediately and stood by the banister, watching the front door when it opened.

Mr. Argent stepped in and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. He looked roughened up, a few scratches where on his face, but otherwise he was fine.

“Good hunt?” Stiles asked softly and Mr. Argent’s eyes shot up surprised to the railing where Stiles was sitting, feet dangling off the edge. He hadn’t expected that anyone would be awake, it was two in the morning after all. Mr. Argent chuckled at the boy and went to the safe to place his gun in, Stiles’ eyes stuck on the older man.

“Not as good as I had hoped, but it was okay, yeah,” he turned around to look at Stiles with a stern look on his eyes. “What are you still doing up?” he wanted to know, and Stiles shrugged, before getting up and walking down the stairs.

“I couldn’t sleep…” he told him and after a small pause, he added. “Any wolves out there today?” Mr. Argent’s face barely changed but Stiles caught the shift in his demeanor, knowing that he was on the right way.  
Mr. Argent laughed and shook his head. “Wolves? No, of course not. Why would I hunt wolves?”  Stiles tilted his head in question and looked at him. “I’ve seen the scratches on the side of your car,” he pointed out and Mr. Argent looked to the side, where Stiles knew his car was standing just outside the house.

“It was a mountain lion.”

Stiles gave him a look. “There is no way that those scratches were from a mountain lion. The claws were too far apart to be from an animal’s claw.”

Mr. Argent chuckled and looked to the ground. “What are you saying, Miec-“ “Stiles,” Stiles interrupted him. He knew that interrupting adults was rude, but he didn’t like being called by his birth name. “And you know what I’m saying, Mr. Argent.”

“Well, _Stiles_ ,” Mr. Argent sighed, but smiled, nonetheless. “I told Victoria that you were smart when we adopted you, but I never would have thought how smart you really are.”

Stiles beamed at him and Mr. Argent put his hand on Stiles’ back, guiding him to his office. “Come on, I’ll explain everything to you.”

**_3214_ ** **_days 13 hours 05 minutes 58 seconds_ **

Stiles stomped after Mr. Argent- Chris, as he had insisted Stiles to call him after he’s been staying with them for almost a year, while they walked through the woods. He stepped on a twig, the sound of it breaking echoing within around the tall trees.

“You’re dead,” Chris stated, and Stiles stilled, looking down at the twig. “Really?” he deadpanned, looking back up at his adoptive father. “A werewolf can hear my heart beat from a mile away and you’re concerned about me stepping on a twig?” he said, his hand tightening around the dagger Chris had given him before they left home.

_Stiles stared at the dagger Chris had put in his hand before looking up at him. “I’m nine,” he reminded him, and Chris huffed, cocking his gun before putting it in its holster. “I know. I also know, that you are smart enough to know when to use it,” he told the boy and Stiles looked at the dagger, glinting in the sunlight. “This is your first time going with me in the woods, I want you to be armed in case anything happens,” Chris added, and Stiles swallowed, furrowing his brows. “But it’s broad daylight and the full moon is days away,” he protested. “You told me that it’s safer during the day.”_

_Chris sighed and crouched down to be on eye level with Stiles. That was something Stiles had learned while he lived with the Argents. Even though he and Allison were only nine years old, Chris and Victoria always treated them with respect (if they weren’t doing nonsense, that is). “I know what I told you, Stiles,” Chris assured him._

_“But just in case anything happens.”_

“Just because a werewolf can hear your heartbeat from a mile away, doesn’t mean you don’t have to watch your step. Don’t want to step into your own trap, do you?” Chris pointed out and raised an eyebrow at Stiles.

Stiles flushed slightly and raised his chin defiantly. “No,” he said and kept going, ducking under branches of smaller trees. “So, what exactly are we doing here?” he wanted to know, stopping when Chris held him back, pointing at the foot tracks on the ground.

It had been raining for the past few days, so the ground was muddy, but the foot tracks were clearly visible.

“You see those?”

Stiles crouched down to look more closely, scrunching up his face.

“What can those foot tracks tell you?” Chris asked.

Stiles inspected the foot tracks carefully, noticing two different looking foot tracks; the footsteps were far apart.

“There were two out here, and they were running,” he pointed out and Chris nodded, patting his shoulder.

“Do you know what we’re doing out here now? We’re testing your knowledge. Knowing how to hunt a werewolf is one thing, actually hunting them, is another,” Chris told him and continued to walk. Stiles looked down at the foot tracks before running to keep up with Chris.

“I don’t want to hunt werewolves,” Stiles called out to him, panting a little when he managed to fall in step with Chris. “I don’t want to hurt anyone just because they’re _different_.”

“They’re not just different,” Chris sighed and stopped to look down to Stiles. “They’re dangerous. Newly turned werewolves can’t control their shift, they could kill you if they wouldn’t learn to control their powers,” he told Stiles. “And we don’t hunt all werewolves. Only those who have spilt human blood, the ones who have killed people. We have a code. Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent. We hunt those, who hunt us.”

Stiles listened intently and was in thoughts. “Is it like bad people going to jail?” he asked, and Chris thought about it for a second, before nodding. “Something like that, yeah.”

“So, you don’t hurt innocent werewolves, right? Only the bad ones, the ones who hurt other people?” Stiles wanted to know, to reassure himself. “Yes, only the bad ones,” Chris insisted.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**_2674 days 02 hours 19 minutes 21 seconds_ **

Stiles pressed his nose against the window of the car as they passed the town sign of their new home. “Beacon Hills,” he read out under his breath before he leaned back down on his seat.

“I don’t get why we had to move, just before Ally and I start middle school,” Stiles complained, and Allison nodded in agreement.

“It’s so weird to go to the elementary school here for the last year, everyone already knows each other. We’ll be the odd ones out,” Allison added and pouted, looking out of the window. “Plus, Beacon Hills looks boring, they don’t even have a pier like Woodlake,” she hummed and looked out the window, her eyes widening when they passed the preserve. “Look! The forest is _huge_! Maybe we could go exploring there, Stiles!”

Stiles looked at Chris and Victoria, who exchanged glances. He might still be a kid, but he knew there were probably werewolves in the town, maybe that was the reason they were moving to Beacon Hills.

“Sweetie, I don’t think that you and Stiles should go near the preserve, you don’t know your way around yet and we don’t want you getting lost now, do we?” Victoria pointed out and Allison deflated a bit, before nodding. “And I wouldn’t worry about being the odd ones out at school,” Chris added, looking at the both of them through the rear-view mirror. “You two just stick together, like always.”

Stiles and Allison looked at each other and giggled, high fiving. “Best friends!” Allison crowed and Stiles beamed at her, before his smile faltered a little.

Sometimes Stiles felt really bad about having to keep the werewolves from Allison. They always told each other everything, and this was a pretty big thing to keep from her. But Chris and Victoria told him that Allison wasn’t ready yet, not until she was an adult and that it was too dangerous for her to find out. When Stiles pointed out that he wasn’t an adult and he knew, they said it was because he was so nosy. Stiles tried to be insulted by that, but he knew that it was true, so he stopped arguing.

“Is this ours?” Stiles asked bewildered when they stopped in front of a brick stone house. “Yes, this is our new home,” Victoria told him, and Stiles got out of the car, admiring the building. “It’s huge!” he yelled and ran around the premises, while the rest of the family got out of the car, starting to unload.

“Stiles, don’t run off too far!” Chris called after him, but Stiles was already running to the backyard, exploring their new home.

He noticed that the backyard was bigger than the one they had before and he walked around the fence, when he saw a door, leading into the woods. Stiles opened the door and glanced back where he could hear the moving company pulling up in the drive way, before he slipped out of the backyard quickly, closing the door behind him.

Their new house seemed to be pretty close to the forest, Stiles noticed as he ducked under some bushes, walking deeper into the preserve. It was different here than back home. The ground was uneven, and Stiles could hear a lot of birds singing in the distance. He looked up at the branches and noticed that the trees went really far up, covering the sky and thus making it a little bit darker.

When Stiles averted his eyes from the sky, he noticed a girl standing by the tree, not to far away from him. He jumped in surprise and the girl’s eyes widened, covering her mouth. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she apologized and walked over to where Stiles was standing. She had dark hair, which was braided in two tails and she was wearing a dark blue dress. She was pretty.

“That’s okay,” Stiles told her and grinned at her. “I didn’t hear you coming.” The girl preened at that and nodded quickly. “My mom said that I’m really light on my feet.” Stiles sighed. “I wish I was too, I am really clumsy, so everyone hears me way before they actually see me,” he told her, and she giggled. “I am Stiles. I just moved here with my family,” Stiles introduced himself. “I’m Cora,” she said and stuck her hand out, her grey timer visible on her wrist.

He looked at her hand a little incredulously before shaking it. It was weird, he has never shaken another kid’s hand before, only an adult’s. Cora was probably really well raised.

“What’s your number?” He wanted to know and gestured to the timer on her wrist and Cora smiled, looking at her wrist, before turning it to show it to Stiles: 2942 days, 04 hours, 12 minutes, 27 seconds. Stiles touched her timer and then pulled down his hoodie to show her his. “Mine has 2674 days, almost the same,” he pointed out and Cora nodded quickly. “Maybe our mates are friends,” She mused and then quickly turned her head, as if she had heard something.

“What is it?” Stiles asked worriedly and when Cora turned back to him, her eyes glowed golden. Stiles’ eyes widened. “Your eyes,” he whispered and Cora shook her head slightly, before her eyes returned to its normal color.  
“Your parents are looking for you,” Cora told him with a smile and Stiles nodded slowly. “I should get back, they probably need help with the boxes,” he said, his eyes fixated on her. “Maybe we can meet up to play again,” Stiles suggested and Cora nodded quickly. “Yeah, that would be fun! My house is over there, by the clearing next to the big trees.” “Okay, I’ll find it,” Stiles said and turned on his heel to run back to his house, looking over his shoulder a couple times where Cora was waving at him before he reached the door to the backyard.

He stumbled in just as Victoria came around the corner, frowning at him. “Stiles, where have you been?” She scolded and Stiles smiled sheepishly. “I got lost,” he told her and Victoria shook her head and guided him back to the drive way where everyone was unloading boxes from the truck.

“Come on, help carry in the little boxes and then you and Allison can go pick out your bedrooms,” she ushered him and Stiles nodded, picking up a small box that was on the ground. “Stiiiiiles, I’m going to pick out the biggest bedroom!” Allison crowed from the threshold from the front door. “Not if I’ll be faster than you!”

**_2179 days 22 hours 54 minutes 07 seconds_ **

“Stiles only likes to go to art class because he has a crush on Lydia Martin,” Allison teased and Stiles flushed, spearing the potato with his fork. “I do not,” he protested and everyone at the table was laughing.

“Only eleven years old and already a Casanova,” Kate needled him, and Stiles stuck his tongue out at her, which made her ruffle through his hair. Kate was Chris’ younger sister, Allison’s aunt. She has been visiting them more frequently since they moved to Beacon Hills. Kate was fun, Stiles had never met anyone like her before. Unlike most people, she had her timer covered up with a small patch, like a band aid. Stiles was curious as to why it was, but he thought it was rude to ask, so he didn’t. She also seemed to be really young, so she let Stiles and Allison eat ice cream on the couch when Chris or Victoria weren’t at home. It was fun to break rules, that was something Kate had taught them.

_“But psht, don’t tell your parents, okay?” Kate had told them and both Allison and Stiles had proceeded to zip their mouths with their fingers._

“Dinner was fantastic, Victoria,” Kate sighed and leaned back in her chair. “There’s dessert!” Stiles added and Kate groaned, rubbing over her belly. “I need to go to the bathroom before I have any more food though, so if you’ll excuse me,” she said and pushed the chair back, before disappearing into the guest bedroom.

Stiles helped Allison and Chris clear the table for dessert, which was a strawberry cake, but by the time the table was re-set, Kate had not returned from her bedroom.

“Stiles, why don’t you run and tell Kate we’re waiting on her,” Chris told Stiles and he nodded before running off to the guest bedroom. He saw that the door to her bedroom was slightly ajar and was about to call out to her, when he heard her talking.

“I’m having dinner with my brother and his family tonight, handsome, maybe we can meet up tomorrow.” Stiles heard Kate say and he tilted his head confusedly. Handsome?

There was a pause, she was probably talking to someone on the phone. Stiles leaned on the wall as he listened to the conversation. He couldn’t hear what the person on the other end of the phone was saying, but he heard Kate chuckle.

“Oh, the things I’m going to do to you when I’ll be with you, don’t you worry Derek,” Kate said in a sultry voice and Stiles pulled a face. He had never heard of someone called Derek before, maybe it was Kate’s boyfriend. He was still in thoughts when the phone call ended, and he heard Kate rummaging in her bag so he knocked on the door. She stilled and smiled at him, pushing her bag under the bed. “Hey cutie, what’s up?” Stiles gestured to the dining room awkwardly. “Uh, dessert is done, we’re waiting for you,” he told her, and Kate got up with a laugh. “Alright, let’s go fill our bellies once more.”

Stiles walked with her to the dining room but didn’t mention anything about the phone, she’d probably scold him for eavesdropping, even if it wasn’t intentional.

⏰⏰⏰

 Later that night, when Stiles was already tucked in and reading a book before going to sleep, his reading was interrupted by a knock on his door. “Come in,” Stiles said softly, and Kate entered the room. She was wearing a jacket and her purse hung off her shoulder.

Stiles put his book down and sat up straight. “Hi Kate, are you going somewhere?” he wanted to know, and Kate nodded, moving to sit on the end of the bed. “Yeah, I’m just meeting some old friends while I am here,” she told him before patting his leg through his blanket.

“So, I heard that you found out about our little secret,” Kate stated, and Stiles nodded slowly. “Pretty smart for a ten-year-old,” she pointed out and Stiles’ cheeks tinged pink. “I was actually eight,” he corrected her before realizing that it sounded like bragging. “Uh, I am just really observant, and I hadn’t been staying with Chris and Victoria for that long, I wanted to know the people that had adopted me,” Stiles said quickly and Kate laughed. “Hey, don’t you worry, I always thought that you would fit in perfectly with our little group.” Stiles looked at her surprised. “You do?”

Kate nodded but then hummed in thoughts. “But I do think that you should learn how to protect yourself and how to shoot a gun,” she sighed and Stiles frowned slightly. “I am ten years old,” he reminded her, feeling an odd déjà vu. “Chris gave me a knife the one time we went into the woods. And he thinks a gun is too dangerous for a kid like me.”

“That’s true. But how do you think a knife is going to help you in a fight with a werewolf? Have you ever seen one of them?” Kate asked him. Stiles thought briefly about his encounter with Cora in the preserve and how he hasn’t seen her again since that day, but he shook his head. “So, then you don’t know what monsters they really are. Their fangs are sharp, their claws long, their ability to heal faster than you can shoot and their super speed? How do you think you can protect yourself from them if you don’t even know how to shoot a gun, let alone basic combat training?”

Stiles shrunk in himself, shrugging helplessly.

“Imagine this. Chris and Victoria are out, only you and Allison are at home. And then, a werewolf breaks into the house, and wants to kill the both of you, in vengeance for Chris killing one of his pack members, there’s no running, there’s no hiding, there’s only fighting.”

As Stiles listened to her, he realized that she was telling the truth. “What do you want me to do? Chris is never going to teach me how to shoot a gun or how to fight, he wants to wait until Allison is ready” he pointed out and Kate laughed slowly. “I can teach you. In secret,” she offered him, and Stiles leaned back in his bed, thinking, before nodding hesitantly. “Okay,” he said, and Kate stood up with a smile. “Great, we’ll start tomorrow. Sleep tight, little one,” she said and left, closing the door behind her.

Stiles could barely sleep that night, he was tossing and turning in his bed. He kept thinking about Kate’s words and how he was unable to protect Allison or even himself. Even though he didn’t want to lie or go behind Chris’ and Victoria’s backs, he figured that he should know how to fight in case anything would happen. Stiles glanced at his timer and touched it softly with his fingertips, hoping that his soulmate was safe. Eventually Stiles fell asleep, a frown etched into his small face.

⏰⏰⏰

When Stiles woke up the next morning, he climbed out of the bed, walking to the living room. The tv was running, which was odd, since they never watched before breakfast. “Morning,” Stiles mumbled as he trudged into the living room, rubbing over his eyes. “Why’s the tv on?” he wanted to know, but he didn’t receive an answer; Allison’s eyes were glued on the tv. “There’s been a fire,” she mumbled after a few seconds and Stiles gasped, reading the headline that flashed across the tv: MANSION OF HALE FAMILY WENT UP IN FLAMES DURING THE NIGHT, EIGHT DEAD. He turned the volume of the tv louder.

“The fire department had managed to contain and extinguish the fire. There have been reports that at least eight people were in the house as it went up in flames, including children and elderlies. It is still unclear as to why the family was still in the house as it burned. The police has not ruled out arson yet, the investigation is still going on.”

Stiles watched as a live footage was shown on the tv of the remnants of the house, frowning when he saw a dark line that went all around the house. Mountain Ash. “They were trapped,” he whispered and he suddenly thought of Cora. That must have been her home, her family, her who died in the fire so violently. He felt like he was going to be sick.

Stiles jumped up, ignoring Allison’s confused looks and he went to the study, storming inside where a group of people were standing, including Chris, Victoria and Kate. They all stopped talking and stared at Stiles. He glanced at all the strangers before putting his eyes on his adoptive parents.

“Was it us?”

Chris and Victoria exchanged glances, before the former went and dragged Stiles out gently, as Kate watched intently.

“Stiles, you know you can’t just storm into the room like that when you know that we have guests,” Chris told him, soft but stern. Stiles crossed his arms, his lip wobbling.

“I saw the news! I saw the line around the house! It was mountain ash. They were werewolves, weren’t they?!” he whispered. Stiles couldn’t describe what he was feeling. A mixture between shock, anger, fear and a little bit of anxiety. Chris sighed and rubbed the boy’s shoulder gently. “Yes, the Hale family was a family of werewolves, but-“ “A family of them?! They said that there were kids! Maybe even some of the kids at my school!” Stiles exclaimed, it was getting hard to breathe.

“Hey… Hey! Calm down okay? It wasn’t us.” Chris told him and Stiles took a deep breath, calming down a bit.

“It wasn’t?” Stiles asked, to make sure that he was hearing it right. Chris nodded and hugged Stiles tightly, rubbing his back before pulling away. “I know that you are very upset and confused right now, but this is not the time to throw a tantrum, okay? A lot of people think that it was us and it needs to be taken care of. I need you to be a big boy right now, go look after Allison, she probably is just as upset as you are and let the adults handle this, okay?”

Stiles looked at him with wide eyes. He wanted to help, he wanted to do something. But he was just a little boy, he was just going to stand in the way. Stiles took a deep breath and nodded before going to comfort Allison, though the sinking feeling in his stomach didn’t disappear.

**_1437 days 07 hours 38 minutes 11 seconds_ **

Stiles focused his eyes on the target in front of him, but his hands were shaking too much. He focused on his timer instead, constantly counting down, before he pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting the target right in the middle. He exhaled slowly and smiled slightly at the target.  
For the past two years, Stiles has been training in secret under Kate’s wing. Even though he still does not agree with most of her attitude towards werewolves, he knew she was right regarding his combat skills, which were none before the training began.

Next to the certain feeling of meeting his soulmate in less than five years, the training was the only thing that helped him focus. Shortly after the fire, Chris and Victoria uprooted them again, moving them across country, New York, after the rumors started spreading that the Argents had something to do with the Hale fire. The move hit Stiles and Allison hard; they had thought that Beacon Hills was the last stop for a while, when it just was a side stop in reality.

Even though Stiles understood why they had to move, he still resented his adoptive parents a bit for the move. Allison on the other hand, was completely blindsided by the move. Much to Stiles’ dismay, she was still unaware of the side business her family was doing, so to her the move came out of the blue and for no reason.

“You’re getting pretty good,” Kate mused and Stiles glanced at her while unloading the gun. “I’ve had a good teacher,” he said and gave her a small smile. “Come on, I think it’s time for us go,” she hurried him along and Stiles packed up his stuff before following her out of the shooting range they’ve been at for the past hour.

The rest of the family thought that they were bonding, aunt and (more or less) nephew, though Stiles was pretty sure that Chris was aware that Kate has been teaching him how to fight. He didn’t seem to mind as long as they kept the promise of keeping Allison out of it for the time being.

Kate dropped him off at home and Stiles waved good bye at her before going inside, dropping his backpack by the front door. “I am home!” he called out and headed to the kitchen where Allison was sitting, working on what seemed to be homework. “Hey. Did Kate not come in?” she asked absently, chewing on her pen. She had seemed to pick up that bad habit of him, it disgusts everyone around them, but they just couldn’t stop.

“No, she said she was busy,” Stiles told her with a shrug and grabbed a water out of the fridge. “Here, mom and dad picked those up at the doctor’s for you, you’re supposed to take it two times a day,” Allison hummed and tossed a pack of pills at Stiles, which hit him square in the face.

Stiles moaned in pain and rubbed over his forehead as Allison snickered. “You know I’ve got the reflexes of a sloth, why would you do that to me?” he complained and picked up his medication from the ground. Despite his training sessions with Kate, his reflexes seemed to be just like they before: really bad.

“It’s not my fault that you can’t catch,” Allison teased and closed her notebook, packing the rest of the stuff away. “Where are Chris and Victoria?” Stiles asked her and sat down on a stool next to her. “Grocery shopping… Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” she slowly said and turned to him. Uh oh. That never meant something good.

“What is it?” Stiles asked and fiddled with his water bottle.

“Do you sometimes get the feeling that mom and dad are hiding something from you?” Allison asked and Stiles stilled momentarily, before shaking out his shoulders. “Uh… No, not really, but then again, they’re not my real parents, so my perception is probably different than yours,” he pointed out but Allison didn’t seem too convinced.

“I don’t know… Something seems really off. I mean, how we just moved a couple days after the fire? That was weird, don’t you think?” she added and Stiles sighed, touching her hand. “Ally, you know Chris and Victoria love you, right? So if they are hiding something, they probably doing it because they love you and want to protect you,” he told her and she nodded before giving him a dimpled smile, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You know I’m really thankful that my parents decided to adopt you, right?” Allison said softly and Stiles grinned, patting her head gently.

“Yeah, duh, that’s because I’m amazing.”

**_0656 days 11 hours 40 minutes 32 seconds_ **

Stiles bobbed his head to the music that came from the radio station as he and Allison drove to school. Allison had just turned 16 and her parents had bought her a car, as a birthday gift and also as an apology for moving them around so much (they had promised Stiles the same treatment for his 16th birthday).

It was their first day at their new high school and their ride to school was awkward and quiet. “It’s weird being back in Beacon Hills, huh?” he said quietly as Allison gripped the steering wheel, staring right ahead.

Dead silence.

Stiles burrowed deeper in his seat and glanced at Allison, unsure of what to say. He had told Chris and Victoria that it would be suspicious to move back to Beacon Hills after they had left so abruptly, but they hadn’t exactly listened to him.

_“You want to do what?” Stiles asked, not because he wasn’t listening the first time, but because he wanted to hear again what dumb idea Victoria had. She gave him a hard look. “I know it’s going to be difficult to explain, but a friend who lives there said there have been suspicious outings of a rogue alpha,” she explained. “It looked like an a enormous wolf, and there hasn’t been a werewolf that could shift into an actual wolf since Talia.” Talia Hale, one of the werewolves that died in the fire. Stiles crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. “And that friend just happens to be a hunter?” he asked and Chris rolled his eyes at Stiles._

_“Yes. He is a hunter, but he can’t handle this by himself. That’s why he wants us for back up.” “What about Kate?” Stiles asked and Chris sighed. “She’s taking care of our father, she can’t come for back up.”_

_Now it was Stiles’ time to roll his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. What do you think Kate is going to say if we’re just going to move back there?” Chris looked at him sharply, narrowing his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”_

_Stiles shrugged with his shoulders. “I don’t know. I am just saying that Kate seemed pretty happy to help us get hell (“Language, Stiles!”) out of Beacon Hills after the fire. I don’t think that she’s going to like that we’re thinking about moving back there.”_

_Chris pinched his nose. He never thought that the boy with the amber colored eyes, all spastic and hyperactive would make their lives so difficult when they adopted him seven years ago. “Kate doesn’t have a say in where we live and what we do. And this is something we need to do, Stiles.”_

_Stiles pushed himself off the wall and rubbed his face with his hand before looking at the two hunters. “Okay, look. I get that you feel some kind of responsibility here, to protect Beacon Hills and after what happened the last time we were there, you want to redeem yourself. I get that. But aren’t you forgetting something here?” he reminded them, Victoria huffing uncomfortably. “Allison,” she ground out and Stiles threw his hands in the air._

_“Yes._ Allison, your daughter _. What do you think she is going to say when you casually throw in that we’re moving back to Beacon Hills considering you grabbed us by the nape of our necks and dragged us out of there after the Hale fire with basically no explanation whatsoever?”_

_“We didn’t do that,” Chris protested and Stiles rolled his eyes. “Semantics. I am on board with going back to Beacon Hills to take care of that alpha, you know I am. But first you need to explain to me what we’re going to explain Allison why we’re moving back there. And you’re already working on that excuse, how about you come up with an excuse why we left there the first place?” Stiles pointed out with a knock on the wooden desk before he left the study, leaving the adults by themselves._

_Victoria stared after him before glancing at Chris with a shake of her head. “You know he’s getting really mouthy, right?” she asked him and her husband gave her a pained look. “I know, trust me. But he’s right. And you know he’s going to be one hell of a hunter with a mind like that,” he stated and Victoria heaved a sigh out as she took her phone to make the calls to pull all the strings for them to move back to Beacon Hills._

_“For his sake, I hope he does.”_

Stiles opened his mouth to ask another question when he turned to the road, eyes widening. “Allison!” he yelled out and Allison swerved the right to the right, barely missing the branch that was laying on the side of the street.

“Okay, pull over Allison. Pull over!” Stiles commanded and waited until his adoptive sister pulled the car to the side curb, before turning to look at her.

“I know that you’re pissed at your parents for dragging us back here and you don’t understand why, but you need to pull your head out of your ass right now!” he told her and she looked at him confused. “What?” she asked before shaking her head quickly, breathing out a nervous laugh.

“No, this is not what this is about. I’ve come to terms with it that my parents make decisions without explaining them.”

Stiles stilled and dropped his hands in his lap. “Oh. Then, what is _this_ about?” he wanted to know and Allison sighed before pulling the sleeves of her sweater back, showing him her timer.

_0000 days 01 hour 27 minutes 38 seconds_

Stiles’ eyes widened so hard, he thought they were going to pop out of the sockets. “Oh my god, Allison!” he said, beaming at her. “This must be so exciting for you, why didn’t you tell me!” Stiles exclaimed, pulling her in a hug.

“I don’t know, with the move and mom and dad being so weird and you being so anxious-“ Stiles gave her a look. “I just, hadn’t found the time to tell you, besides, I was freaking out myself,” she told him.

“What if they don’t even like me? What if they think I am some freak?” Allison asked him quietly and he squeezed her wrist. “Hey don’t you worry about anything. This is your soulmate. The person that is supposed to love you, with all of your mistakes and quirks, and they will love you, I promise. Because everyone loves you, it’s physically impossible not to love you,” Stiles pointed out with a very serious tone, making Allison laugh.

“Now, you get us to school, safely, might I add, or you don’t even have to worry about your soulmate liking you or not, because we will be dead.”

(Of course Allison’s soulmate was just as sweet and nice as she was. His name was Scott McCall and he was in their English class, lending her a pen because she, of course, had forgotten her pencil case at home (seriously though, who’d forget their pencil case on their first day?). Thankfully, Stiles and Scott got along perfectly, so Stiles didn’t feel as much as a third-wheel around them like he thought he would.)

**_0128 days 21 hours 01 minutes 51 seconds_ **

Stiles knew that even though the apparent (rogue) alpha attacks have grown less frequent, it didn’t mean that the alpha just left. Even though their pattern seemed to be nonexistent, he knew he had to find out what it was in order to stop the alpha from maiming and killing people.  Even though Chris and Victoria seemed to be sending a group of hunters out to find the werewolf regularly, they never caught something.

He had checked.

Thoroughly.

So Stiles did what he did best. He went out by himself to find anything that would help him identify the werewolf or his pattern.

Although it wasn’t his first time in the woods since the fire, it felt weird to be there, knowing how many people lost their life because of what they are (though it has never been proven that it was hunters who did it, Stiles was adamant given the evidence and the circumstances, there was no way that it was a coincidence).

Stiles had walked miles on miles in the preserve, only finding the occasional foot tracks, but nothing that would help him find the alpha. He then questioned his sanity as to why he, a sixteen year old inexperienced ‘hunter’ was trying to find a full-fledged, dangerous alpha. It wasn’t like he could do any actual damage. The only thing he brought in case of emergency was a small dagger laced with a little bit of wolfsbane.

Not enough to permanently harm the alpha, but just enough to incapacitate the werewolf and run the hell away from him.

“This sucks,” Stiles muttered to himself and kicked a stone with his foot. He hadn’t expected to find anything  right away, but he has been spending at least 3 hours in the preserve, looking for clue. It was getting dark soon and he had to be back for dinner, so no one would be suspicious of his whereabouts.

After fifteen minutes of wandering around aimlessly and staring at the ground like it was going to tell him where to look, he gave up. Stiles started looking around, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and now that he did, he had realized that he was standing close to where the Hale house used to be. He had kept his distance on purpose, it felt wrong to go snooping around at a place where people died because of people like Stiles’ family.

After almost six years, the remnants of the house were still standing, burnt, covered in moss. Even though most of the house was destroyed, the front was still intact.  
Well, if you call half broken roof, blackened exterior due to the flames and ashes on the ground, intact.

He walked up to the front porch and peeked inside the house through the slits of the wooden planks that have been put up over the broken windows. Stiles wondered why the house was still standing. If it was a memoir of the Hale house, or if it was because the person who was responsible for the fire wanted it to stay standing as a warning to all werewolves.

Stiles shuddered at the thought of that before he walked around the house to look at the back of it. The house was huge and he ducked under a few branches to get to the clearing behind the house. He stopped when he saw something laid in the middle of clearing, stepping forward slowly.

It was a deer, breathing slowly; it seemed badly wounded. As Stiles got closer to the deer, a breath hitched in his throat as he saw that someone, or rather _something_ , had carved a spiral into the deer’s side. He crouched down to look at the spiral closer, touching the deer softly. It let a small whine before it stopped breathing.

Stiles closed his eyes briefly and got up to leave, though he stilled when he got goosebumps, a deep growl reaching his ears. It was here with him.

He turned around slowly, his eyes widening as he took in the creature it front of him. It wasn’t like on the pictures he had seen, though he had heard that alphas could turn into a more wolf life creature due to their power that differentiates an alpha from a beta. It was a gigantic, black and very scary looking werewolf. It looked like the monster version of a wolf, but the thing that threw Stiles off was its eyes. They weren’t red, like an alpha’s were supposed to be. Instead, they were an electric blue. On his left arm Stiles spotted a timer, though it was hard to tell what color it was due to the distance that was between him and the werewolf.

He gripped the dagger in his hand and the werewolf looked at the dagger interestedly before it took off. Stiles let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Stiles glanced at the deer and at the spot where the werewolf was standing just seconds ago.

“It’s not an alpha,” he whispered to himself. But how could an alpha take form of such a monstrous creature? Stiles thought back to everything he has learned about werewolves. There had to be an explanation for this. _“It looked like an a enormous wolf, and there hasn’t been a werewolf that could shift into an actual wolf since Talia.”_ Stiles’ eyes widened as it dawned on him. He never asked if there were any survivors of the fire, or if the whole family was at home when the fire broke out.

“It’s a Hale.”

**_0072 days 04 hours 27 minutes 44 seconds_ **

Even though the revelation of the rogue werewolf being a Hale made things so much easier, Stiles couldn’t tell anyone. He’d just get himself into trouble, having to explain himself why he was in the woods and why he didn’t run the second he was aware of the werewolf’s presence. But the werewolf didn’t attack Stiles or even tried to, they both were well aware that there was a slim chance of Stiles winning the fight, so it wasn’t fear that held the werewolf back from attacking Stiles. However he knew that there was a reason that he wasn’t attacked and it probably was the key to figuring out the werewolf’s pattern. Stiles knew that the werewolf acted by himself, he wasn’t part of a pack. Which made him an omega, a lone wolf.

He tried researching any clues on survivors of the Hale fire, but he came up with nothing. Stiles knew that it didn’t mean that there were no survivors, because he was at least 90% sure that his theory was right. Okay, 80%, but he was right.

He had spent even more time in the woods, on one hand to find more clues and on the other hand from distracting himself from his counter having reached double-digits days. Stiles knew that if he wouldn’t distract himself, he would just stare at his timer all day, counting down the seconds.  
Chris and Victoria think he’s doing a project on local plants in Beacon Hills, they have been pretty busy with dealing with the werewolf, though they still thought that it was an alpha. Stiles figured it was safer for them to overestimate the enemy, rather than underestimate it and get hurt.

Allison didn’t really notice Stiles’ absence that much. Not that Stiles blamed her, if he had met his soulmate already, he’d spend 24/7 with them too. They often invited Stiles along on their hangouts, but they often hangout with Lydia and Jackson; Stiles often bumped heads with Jackson, so that wasn’t an option.

So, the Beacon Hills preserves it was.

Luckily Stiles hadn’t had another encounter with the omega, but he moved onto a slightly bigger dagger with a tad more wolfsbane on the blade. You know, just in case. Even though he wasn’t hurt during his first encounter with the werewolf, it left a prickling feeling that he couldn’t quiet shake.

Stiles liked to think that the werewolf had taught him how to be more careful and not be so vulnerable to unexpected attacks again. Even agile and quick creatures likes werewolves make mistakes, he just had to be attentive to catch it.

Like the one he was trying to catch that day. Stiles had noticed her presence for the last couple of days. She moved quick, barely made any noise, it was hard to keep up with her, she was clearly experienced in what she was doing. He still had to figure out if she was trying to catch something of if she was running from someone.

Stiles was crouched down next to a couple of tracks, following them with his eyes. They were leading to a couple of rocks. He noticed they were different than the ones she had left before. They were deeper, like she was carrying something which weighed her down and thus making the foot tracks deeper and more obvious. Stiles had realized what she was doing the moment he was grabbed by the hood of his jacket and pinned harshly against a tree. He had the blade of the knife against her neck before his back hit the tree.

Stiles looked at her with raised eyebrows, as if to challenge her, as her eyes flit from the knife against her neck to his face before letting out a growl and dropping him to the ground again. “Who are you and why are you following me?” she wanted to know, glaring at him. She looked familiar to him, her dark long hair framing her face. He had immediately looked for her timer but it was covered by the sleeves of her leather jacket.  He eyed her briefly before sticking his knife back into its holster.

“I’m just here to do what you came here to do,” he pointed out and she furrowed her brows at him, her hands placed by her hips. Stiles raised an eyebrow. “Unless you are what I’ve been looking for?” he trailed off and she growled at him, her eyes flashing red.

Stiles grinned and leaned back against the tree, surprising the girl. “So you’re not.”

“I’m Laura. Laura Hale,” she introduced herself and Stiles’ eyes widened in surprise. “You’re a Hale?” he asked and she nodded, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Why? What’s it to you?”

“My name’s Stiles Stilinski. Or well, Stiles Argent, I guess,” he told her and her nostrils flared, her eyes turning red.

“You’re an _Argent_?” She yelled, the last word turning into a roar. He held his hands up defensively. “Look, let me explain before you rip into me with your claws,” he pleaded and she looked at him coldly, the red in her eyes practically burning through him.

“Why would I listen to you? Why would I believe anything you’re saying? Your people have been hunting mine for centuries!”

“You can listen to my heartbeat, right? So do that, and if my heartbeat just does one small tick, I swear I won’t even try running from you,” Stiles promised and Laura seethed before nodding.

“Okay, good. So, I am not an Argent-Argent, Chris and Victoria Argent adopted me when I was eight years old, my parents died in a car accident. I found out about their side-business just a few months after they’ve adopted me, Chris has been teaching me how to track werewolves and that they have a code, to only hunt those who’ve hurt others. And you clearly don’t want to hurt innocent people or I wouldn’t be still be standing, right?” he asked her and she just glared at him until he continued.

“Well, we lived in Beacon Hills for a year before the fire happened and Chris told me that it wasn’t them, but the backlash got so bad we had to leave Beacon Hills. We came back last two years ago when there have been reports of an apparent rogue alpha in Beacon Hills, I have been tracking the werewolf for the past months. That’s what you’re here for too, right?” Stiles guessed. Laura hesitated before she pulled a sheet of paper out of her packet, unfolding it before showing it to Stiles. It was a picture of the deer with the spiral carved in it.

“This was sent to me from a friend who still lives here,” she told him and Stiles nodded quickly. “I found the deer. And then the omega found me.”

Laura looked at him in irritation. “It’s not an omega. It’s an alpha.”

Stiles laughed dryly, before shaking his head. “That’s the thing, it’s not. Their eyes were blue and I haven’t tracked any other werewolves besides you.”

Laura grunted in disagreement, stuffing the paper back into her pocket. “It’s not possible. You can only transform like that if you’re an alpha, no beta can do that, let alone an omega,” she argued and Stiles touched her wrist carefully.

“I think it is possible. Your mother was Talia Hale, right?” he asked and Laura gave him a pained look, closing her eyes briefly.

“So your mother was able to shift into a wolf. I bet you can do that, too, right?” Laura froze and looked at him suspiciously. “How do you know that?”

Stiles shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “That’s the only possible explanation. The ability to shift into a wolf is very rare and I am guessing it’s in your genes. You, your mom- The omega is someone from your family,” he said and her eyes darkened, shaking her head. “That’s not possible, no one survived the fire and the ones who did aren’t capable of this. And none of my siblings can do that. Only I can,” Laura told him and Stiles shrugged.

“I am pretty sure they can, but haven’t learned how to, yet. But they will, eventually,” he insisted and she let out a huff. A silence settled over them, both lost in thoughts before Stiles realized something, grabbing her arm. Her eyes shot up and flashed red, making him let go. “Sorry, sorry, but I just- does that mean that your siblings weren’t at the house? You guys left Beacon Hills? Do you, by any chance, have a sister called Cora?” he asked and she stilled, tilting her head in confusion.

“How do you know Cora?”

“I met her in the woods, like, seven years ago,” he told her, smiling slightly. “So she’s okay?” he asked and Laura nodded quickly.

“Yeah, Cora, our brother and I. We left Beacon Hills after the fire.”

“Look, maybe you weren’t the only ones who survived the fire, there’s someone, running around looking like a wolf monster, randomly killing people. We have to work together to find them.”

“It doesn’t make sense! My mother always lead the pack with morals and peace, we never were a violent pack,” Laura argued, sighing. “You seem like a good person, despite being an Argent. But I don’t trust you, I mean, I just met you. I have to talk this over with my pack, but I will be back and figure this out,” Laura said, glancing at him. “I’ll find you when we’re back,” she told him before shifting into a wolf, running off into the woods.

Stiles just stood there, mouth gaping, before he collected himself. “Hey, how will you find me? You don’t have my phone number!” he called out; the only reply he got was the chirping of the birds.

He sighed and kicked a stone out of his way, though there was a grin on his face.

“She turned into a fricking wolf, man, that was awesome,” Stiles muttered to himself before heading home to figure out what his next move was going to be.

**_0025 days 09 hours 51 minutes 09 seconds_ **

Stiles had stopped counting the days once it passed two weeks since he had talked to Laura in the woods. There was no way a pack of werewolf was taking so long to hatch a plan and return to Beacon Hills. Then again, he did tell her that one member of her family was killing people randomly and maybe they just decided to let them rampage on their blood lust until it passed.

In the time Stiles was waiting, the omega had killed two more people, which led to Chris and Victoria holding more secret meetings in the basement of their house. Even though the other hunters weren’t pleased about it, Stiles was allowed to attend the meetings. He figured that if Laura wasn’t going to help him, he would have to get his help elsewhere. And the hunters were more experienced than he was.

He had to admit, that the hunters’ style was far more radical compared to his way of trying to find the omega. While they did try to track its tracks in the preserves and at every location there was an attack, they mostly talked about setting up traps and how to kill it as soon as possible, instead of trying to figure out its pattern like Stiles was doing.

So while he attends most meetings, he skipped the one that was held after he’s had a long day of school, heading straight to his bedroom. He pulled the door shut behind him and tossed his backpack into the corner, humming as he threw himself into his chair, swiveling around when he saw a girl standing next to the window. In his bedroom.

He yelled out in surprise and promptly fell out of the chair, rubbing his head as he stared at the girl, who rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms. He really had to stop meeting girls like this, it wasn’t cute.

“Uh, can I help you?” he asked slowly, getting up and pushing his chair to the desk. “Wait… Do I know you?” Stiles said quickly, his eyes squinting at her familiar features. “Cora?” he then spluttered out and she nodded, a small smile on her lips before it disappeared again. “Good to see that you’ve barely changed in the last seven years, “ Cora told him and he hugged her tightly until she pushed him away.

“I am really glad you’re okay,” Stiles sighed and smiled brightly at her. “I thought- the fire,” he said, stammering. Cora looked away uncomfortably and let out a huff, her timer still grey, like the last time he met her.

“Laura, my brother Derek and I just arrived in Beacon Hills a couple of nights ago,” she told him, leaning against the window sill. “She doesn’t think you’re trust worthy, because you grew up with the Argents, neither does my brother,” she added and Stiles snorted in annoyance, sitting down on his bed.

“I just want to stop the omega from killing random people in Beacon Hills, nothing else!” he assured her and Cora sighed, walking over to his desk and pulled out pictures from every victim, spreading them on the desk.

“It’s not random,” she told him and Stiles walked over to her side, giving her a look. “Really? Then tell me, what does a bus driver for a high school have to do with two hobos who were killed during the last full moon?” he wanted to know and Cora pointed to the bus driver.

“Garrison Myers. He was an insurance inspector before he became a bus driver for Beacon Hills High School. He was he one who investigated the fire of our house. He took bribes from the person responsible for the fire and ruled the fire as accidental,” she said with gritted teeth. “ _Electrical malfunction_ ,” she hissed, staring angrily at the picture “Which is ridiculous, our dad was an electrician and everyone knew that, I just-“ Cora exhaled slowly, blinking back a few tears.

Stiles touched her elbow slowly, carefully. He read that werewolves, especially born ones, seek comfort in touch of others, best case scenario a member of their pack. This wasn’t necessarily the worst case scenario, but it wasn’t the best either. But he hoped that it would give her some kind of comfort and not rip his head off.

Luckily, Cora gave him a small smile and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, clearing her throat.

“These three,” she said, pointing to the two vandals who were killed in the woods and the video store clerk. “Were arsonists. We’re not sure if they were involved in the fire but it supports your theory of the omega being one of our family members. The spiral you found on the deer stands for vengeance. So the attacks are somehow connected to the fire. But we’re not aware of anyone who is able to pull something like this off,” Cora explained and Stiles pumped a fist into the air.

“See, it’s not completely crazy!”

“You don’t have a suspect, Stiles, you need more proof and a possible suspect to make your theory believable, especially to Laura and Derek.”

“Gee thanks for the vote of confidence,” he muttered with a huff, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Cora’s eyes hardened. “This is serious, Stiles,” her voice not unkind, but it still held a cold tone to it. “The last time one of us trusted one of your family, our entire family was killed in a fire.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up and he looked at her. “The last time?” he asked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“God, how can you _not_ know this?” Cora groaned in irritation, shaking her head at him.

“How am I supposed to know _anything_ if no one tells me!” Stiles exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. He was really sick of people telling him he didn’t know anything. He knew. A lot.

“I am not going to tell you, you’re not going to believe it,” she said and pinched her nose, the knowledge of something being withheld from him _on purpose_ really bugged Stiles, so he got up from the bed, pacing the room.

“Fine, then don’t tell me, I’ll find out on my own,” Stiles heaved when the door to his bedroom suddenly opened and he looked at Cora in panic before looking at the door where Allison came barging in.

“Stiles, I- were you just talking to yourself?” she asked and looked at him weirdly. “I, uh,” Stiles looked to the side where Cora was just standing, but there was no one.

He turned back to Allison and shrugged, before nodding. “Yeah, it helps me- focus,” he said lamely and Allison gave him a look before shaking her head. “O-kay, Kate is coming in three weeks, dad asked me to pick her up from the airport but Scott is taking me to the beach on the weekend for my birthday, can you please pick her up?” she asked sweetly and Stiles groaned.

“Ugh, fine, but don’t expect me to always bail you out,” he warned her and Allison grinned at him.

“Thanks you’re the best,” she said and kissed his cheek before shutting the door behind her.

Stiles let out a sigh of relief and checked the roof outside his window before shutting it. He really should keep his windows locked if he didn’t want to have all kinds of people climbing into his bedroom.

He went to his desk to get all the papers sorted when something struck him. “Derek, Derek, Derek, where have I heard that name before?” he mumbled to himself, concentrating. He knows that it wasn’t in the report he read, since Derek and Cora were minors when the fire happened, but why did the name sound so familiar to him? He tossed the papers into the folder in frustration, not able to remember why, when his phone chimed, lighting up.

[new text from Aunt Kate, 3:21 pm]: Heard you were coming to pick me up when I come for a visit. Can’t wait to see you!

Stiles shuddered when he suddenly remembered. It was the first time they lived in Beacon Hills and he had overheard a conversation between Kate and her boyfriend

“Derek,” he whispered, overwhelmed by shock.

⏰⏰⏰

“Laura? I need to talk to you!” Stiles called as he walked up to the burnt remnants of the Hale house. He wasn’t sure if Laura could actually hear him but he needed to know if someone from his family was a psychotic killer.

“I think I figured it out, but I need you to tell me if I am just being crazy or if Kate’s crazy,” he said, stepping onto the porch when Laura came out of the house, closing the door behind her.

“Oh thank god you’re here,” Stiles sighed and then eyed her warily. “Wait, you guys don’t live here, do you?”

“What? No, of course not, this place isn’t safe, we found an apartment downtown, even if Derek actually wanted to stay here when we first arrived,” Laura said and rolled her eyes, before she crossed her arms. “Well, I am listening.”

Stiles took a deep breath. “When we lived in Beacon Hills the first time, Allison’s aunt Kate visited us a lot, I just thought it was because she liked it here. The one time I overheard a phone call from Kate where she was talking to someone called Derek and I thought they were dating because she was calling him endearments,” he started and Laura flared her nostrils as she listened, her eyes flashing a crimson red briefly.

“That night she came to talk to me about werewolves being monsters and how I should start training to protect myself and Allison, then she went out with friends. Well, that’s what she told me. When I woke up the next morning, I found out about the fire,” Stiles said nervously, scratching at his timer. “It was Kate, wasn’t it? Kate killed your family.”

Laura nodded slowly and sat down on the porch step where Stiles quickly joined her. “Derek was sixteen when he and Kate met. He was in a bad place, he just lost his girlfriend Paige, who was bit by an Alpha and died because her body rejected the bite. He was vulnerable and lost and I guess Kate somehow wormed herself into his life. I guess she already knew about us being werewolves and just used Derek to get to us. They had a secret relationship and Derek being the teenager he was, told her all about our family and how we were suspicious of his behavior, but how we never realized that he was sneaking out at night to meet her. Kate lured all the information about our family out of him and used the night where most of us where at home to set the fire. She wanted to kill all of us, even the humans in our family. All entrances were locked from the outside and the werewolves couldn’t break free because of the mountain ash surrounding the house.” Laura exhaled shakily and closed her eyes.

“Derek, Cora and I weren’t at home, I- I can’t even remember where we were. But when came home in the morning, the fire was still burning, it was the worst day in our lives.”  
Stiles’ heart broke as he heard Laura tell her story, tell the story of how her family died a so horrible death. He covered her hand with his and squeezed it gently.

“I know you don’t trust me, but what Kate did is wrong. So, so wrong. But I honestly think that Chris and Victoria have no idea, they follow the code, to the word. And even when I was  a little boy, Chris always told me that sticking by the code is the most important thing when being a hunter. And the fire violated the code a lot, when your pack was a peaceful one that had human members. Chris and Victoria wouldn’t stand behind Kate if they knew what she did.”

“So what are you saying?” Laura asked, furrowing her brows at him. “You want to tell them what Kate did?”

“How about we kill two birds with one stone? We know that the omega is coming after everyone who is responsible for the fire right? We bring all of them together: Kate, the omega and the rest of the hunters. Kate won’t deny it in front of so many werewolves and then Chris takes care of her and you take care of the omega,” Stiles suggested, but Laura seemed skeptical.

“I keep telling you, we don’t know of anyone who could have killed all these people. I mean, we could ask our uncle Peter if he-“

“You have an uncle who’s alive?” Stiles exclaimed, flailing his arms around. “What if he’s the omega?”

Laura rolled her eyes at him. “You think I haven’t thought of that? He survived the fire- but only barely. He is badly burnt and still healing. We haven’t been able to get a word out of him since the fire, he’s catatonic. Peter can’t even stand on his own, how do you think he’ll be able to shift and kill a bunch of people?”  
Stiles deflated and sighed loudly.

“Fine, then I guess we have to find another way to figure out the omega’s identity.”

**_0000 days 06 hours 19 minutes 05 seconds_ **

Stiles has been an nervous wreck the minute the timer has reached the 24 hours countdown. On top of that, he was completely clueless on how he was supposed to move on with his investigation about the omega’s identity. Neither Stiles or Laura had been able to find out the omega’s identity, so they weren’t able to formulate a plan of how to bring everyone together. Laura even brought Stiles to see her uncle Peter and there was no way that he could pull _anything_ off.

Now Kate was in Beacon Hills and they still didn’t have a plan for anything, this was just perfect.

Stiles managed to worm his way out of picking her up and for the past week he has managed to stay out of Kate’s way. Chris and Victoria have noticed Stiles’ behavior, but they have been quiet about it, Allison on the other hand, has been pestering him about him avoiding Kate the whole time; that wasn’t a nice conversation to have.

_Stiles was just in the middle of making himself a sandwich in the kitchen when he heard heels just outside the kitchen, before the door suddenly swung open. He yelped and ducked beneath the counter, hoping that Kate hadn’t spotted him._

_“It’s me Stiles,” Allison said amused and he sighed before getting up, dusting off his jeans before returning to his sandwich._

_“Sorry, thought you were Kate,” Stiles mumbled and Allison raised an eyebrow at him, rounding the counter. “Why exactly are you hiding from her anyways? You two always have been close, and now, all of a sudden, you avoid her like the plague,” she pointed out and Stiles shrugged, closing the lid of the pickles._

_“I, uh, feel uncomfortable around her,” he said, his cheeks heating up. He was panicking, how was he supposed to explain this to her?_

_Allison’s eyes widened. “Oh. OH!” she said, blushing. “Oh my god, I am so sorry Stiles,” she said and he stared at her. What was happening?_

_“I always thought she was a bit to touchy and I guess her comments about you are inappropriate.”_

_“Uh,” Stiles said dumbly before nodding quickly. “Yeah, that’s it, that’s why I feel uncomfortable.”_

_“You should have told me! I can see why you wouldn’t talk to mom and dad about this, but you know that you don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. I will tell mom and dad, don’t you worry about it,” Allison promised and pulled Stiles in a hug, before she pulled away with a smile and left the kitchen, leaving him staring at her with a gob smacked face._

_What the hell just happened?_

Since that conversation in the kitchen, Allison has been a perfect barrier placed between him and Kate whenever Chris and Victoria weren’t around, but Allison has left for the beach two days ago and the adults have all the hands full with the omega (they still thought that it was an alpha. Stiles seriously doubted their skills at this point, how were they experienced hunters when they haven’t been able to come face to face with the werewolf? But then again, maybe that was what made them good).

Chris had set up different teams to patrol the town as the attacks have grown more vicious. Derek said that it was the omega giving in to his wolf self, losing his human side. Or that was what Laura said, that he said. Stiles hadn’t met the infamous Derek Hale yet, he only ever met up with Cora and Laura. Cora said that Derek liked to track on his own and not be distracted by anyone else, but Stiles thought that it had something to do with Kate living under the same roof as Stiles, there has got to be some scent issues involved.

Even though it was hard for Stiles to juggle school, patrolling with the hunters and frequent meet ups with the Hale siblings, he managed just fine. Well, he hasn’t been able to sleep more than five hours a night, but for now, it was working out.

“Your shift starts in ten minutes,” Kate said from the door way and Stiles almost smashed his laptop on the floor, that he was balancing on his lap. “Oh yeah, thanks for the heads up,” he mumbled to Kate quickly, closing the laptop.

Kate watched him, tapping on the door knob with her nails. He knew that she didn’t buy the excuse about her ‘inappropriate behavior’ around him because Stiles had told her to stop with the remarks when he was fifteen.

“I’ll meet you by the front door, we’ll take your car,” she said before sauntering off as Stiles furrowed his brows.

“I am on shift with Brocks, not with you!” he called after her.

“Well, Brocks is out, so you’re stuck with me.”

“Fuck,” Stiles whispered to himself and groaned into his pillow before getting ready.

**_0000 days 03 hours 31 minutes 59 seconds_ **

“We can do another sweep around here and then head into town, I think it’s lurking in the trees during the day and goes into town when it’s dark,” Stiles speculated and Kate, nodded, turning on her heel as she looked over the woods. They had a pretty good viewing point from where they were standing.

“So are you going to talk to me or just stare so hard at the back of my head until I just vanish?” Kate asked and Stiles gripped the gun by his side.

“I literally just talked to you.”

Kate rolled her eyes and slung her gun over her shoulder as they started making their way back to the car.

“You know what I meant. And don’t tell me that thing it’s the inappropriate comments about you, I stopped when you told me to, you know you’re like my little brother.”

“I shouldn’t be like ‘your little brother’ Kate, I’m seventeen. You’re almost 30, I should be like your nephew. You’re not that young,” Stiles huffed and Kate’s head turned so quickly, he thought it was going to fall off.

“What did you just say to me?”

“You can’t go around acting like you’re a teenager or date a teenager for that matter,” Stiles said, the last part more quietly, but Kate heard him anyway. She blanched a little, before she recovered, lifting her chin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied and Stiles rolled his eyes. Figures she would deny it.

“I know about Derek. know that you used him to get to his family. I know that you killed all of those people, the Hales.”

“They weren’t people, Stiles. They were werewolves, monsters,” Kate hissed and Stiles stopped to stare her down.

“There were kids in there, Kate. Kids, humans. The Hale pack was a peaceful pack, did you have proof that they hurt someone? Killed someone?” he asked her and she only laughed dryly, shaking her head.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m hearing this right now. You’re being an ungrateful little dick, Stiles,” she said, poking his chest with her finger, but he batted her hand away quickly.

“Does Chris know? Are you going to tell him?” he asked and her eyes glinted dangerously. “Is that a threat? You’re in no position to threaten me,” she said and stomped off.

“You sure about that?” Stiles asked as he followed her. “I have the car keys and I also removed the clip of your gun.”

As expected, Kate check the gun immediately, before laughing at Stiles. “What’s your game here Stiles? You want to kill me?”

He gave her a look. “No, that’s what you would do. I just want to make sure you’re sticking with me. And since you have no way of defending yourself from the werewolf that’s been coming for people who are responsible for the fire, I know that you will. Now come on, I want to show you something.” He walked past her to the car, getting inside. Kate ground her teeth, visibly angry, before she followed him to the car.

**_0000 days 02 hours 42 minutes 21 seconds_ **

“What are we doing here?” Kate asked as they got out of the car when they reached the Long Term Care Facility of the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. “You’ll see,” he muttered, entering the building, stopping in his tracks when he noticed that the lights were off. “Something’s wrong,” he said, looking for any hospital staff; he grabbed his gun and tossed Kate her clip, who instantly put it back in her gun.

Stiles walked through the halls slowly, both hands on his gun; Kate followed him with the same posture, sensing that something was wrong.

The light flickered ominously as the two walked further into the building, when Stiles opened the door to Peter’s room, but he was no where to be found. He exchanged glances with Kate before he grabbed his phone, dialing Laura’s number. It rang, and with every ring, Stiles had hoped that Laure would pick up, but it just reached the voicemail.

Stiles dropped the phone from his ear slowly when he heard growling behind him, looking at Kate before they both turned around, just to be faced with-

“Peter Hale,” Stiles whispered, raising his gun. The werewolf gave him a smirk and just as Kate pulled the trigger, he shifted, turning into the wolf-like beast Stiles encountered in the preserve. The bullet just bounced off of him like it was made of gum and the werewolf pounced on Kate, knocking her out, before turning to Stiles.

“I can’t let you take her,” Stiles said and pointed the gun at the werewolf. It growled at him and before Stiles could even pull the trigger, Peter knocked him out with a swipe of his paw.

⏰⏰⏰

A dull ache in his head is the first thing Stiles felt when he gained consciousness, his vision blurry when he opened his eyes. He groaned and lifted a hand to his head, concentrating on his pain before he pulled himself up, checking his surroundings. He was the only one there, Peter must have taken Kate with him.

Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket to call for back up.

[new text to Laura; 5:21 pm]: it’s Peter, he killed everyone at the long term care facility and took Kate. I think they’re at ur old house. Meet me there.

After sending the texts, he pocketed his phone and grabbed the gun, checking the bullet chamber before taking off. There was no time to lose, he couldn’t let Peter kill Kate.

**_0000 days 01 hour 46 minutes 57 seconds_ **

By the time Stiles parked his car just in front of the preserves, the sun had already set. He knew that he was at an disadvantage now, he didn’t bring any night vision goggles, it was needless to say that werewolves didn’t need those. But he still had one trick up his sleeve.

He opened the glove compartment of his car and pulled out a box, which held a singular bullet. It was a wolfsbane bullet that he had swiped from Chris’ bullet collection. He knew that he had to hit Peter directly in the heart in order to kill him, and even though Stiles was a good shot, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to pull a shot like this off.

Stiles shoved the bullet into his pocket and closed the car door, heading into the preserve, his flashlight showing him the way through the trees. Even though he had spent the last few months cataloguing the preserve while he was tracking Peter, he suddenly felt like he had no idea where he was going, it had started raining and Stiles wasn’t even sure when it begun. He shielded his eyes from the rain as he passed by a large tree stump, when he realized that he’d been walking in circles for the last thirty minutes.

He cursed himself and stopped, leaning on a tree while he caught his breath. The punch to the head must have been harder than he thought, he had to focus, he can’t lose focus right now. As he felt his breath growing erratic and quick, he closed his eyes to calm down, but it didn’t work like it used to. Stiles gasped for air, then rain making it even harder to breath. He pressed his palms against the bark of the three, when his eyes caught the timer on his wrist, seconds counting down periodically. As he focused on his timer, he felt a calmness wash over him and his breathing steadying.

He smiled, exhaling slowly before he started walking again, his head a little clearer. After a short walk, he reached the Hale house and he sighed in relief, jogging up to the porch where he could her voices from inside. He fished out the wolfsbane pulled out of his pocket and put it in the bullet chamber.

Stiles raised his gun before he entered, looking around when he saw Kate standing in a room. Peter was standing behind her, his claws digging into her neck as he spoke.

“Oh. Stiles, you’ve made it,” He said calmly, pressing his claws into Kate’s throat, the blood trickling down.

Stiles pointed the gun at Peter, making the former laugh. It was a animalistic, guttural sound. “I can’t believe it’s been you all this time. Laura thought you were barely alive,” he said, his eyes glued on Peter and Kate.

“My human side was healing, very slowly. I’ve felt everything as it healed. But the wolf inside me was alive and murderous, Stiles. My entire pack was killed, my family,” Peter growled, his voice sounding more animalistic than human.

“Laura, Cora and Derek are alive, they’re here! Don’t you want to see your nieces and nephew?” Stiles asked, hoping to appeal to Peter’s human side.

“Of course I do. I can’t wait to see my alpha. But I need to protect them, I can’t let her get away from this, not after she’s been getting away with it for the last seven years.” Peter’s claws dug deeper into Kate’s throat and she gasped for air.

Stiles didn’t have a free shot, Kate was standing right in front of Peter’s heart.

“One, last, kill,” Peter whispered

“No!” Stiles yelled and pulled the trigger, right as Peter’s claws sliced right into Kate’s throat, as she let out a gurgle, before dropping her lifeless body to the floor like a rag doll.

Stiles heaved for air as he looked at her corpse before looking back at Peter, who was wheezing; the bullet hit him right in the ribcage, not close enough to the heart to kill him. “You shouldn’t have done that,” Peter roared, his eyes flashing a brilliant blue before he shifted.

Stiles stared at him with wide eyes before he ran for his life.

**_0000 days 00 hours 03 minutes 01 seconds_ **

His heart thrummed in his chest, turning around every two steps he took. The scene of Peter clawing out Kate’s throat kept replaying in his head over and over, like it was stuck on a loop. Even though he knew that Kate was a really bad person and probably a little sick in her head (more than a little bit, actually) he wanted her to serve her time for what she did and not get murdered right _in front of his eyes_.

The mud squelched beneath his sneakers as he maneuvered in between trees, hoping to get as much distance between him and Peter as possible, hoping that someone was on their way to him. He turned around, looked up when he heard a loud howl, echoing through the woods and he gripped the gun tighter in his hands.

He knew that his chances to survive the night were pretty small. He had already used the one advantage he had, and he couldn’t fight Peter on his own. Stiles’ head whipped around when he heard leaves rustling behind him and he raised his gun, ready to pull the trigger when a hand came up, covering the barrel of the gun as the bullet.

“Please lower the gun, Stiles,” an unfamiliar voice said and as Stiles dropped his hands to his sides and came face to face with a very attractive, dark haired guy, the timers on their wrists simultaneously vibrated, glowing a soft green.

“It’s you,” they both whispered, as warm, brown colored eyes met a pair of hazel eyes, which seemed to be flashing a bright blue for a millisecond.

Of course Stiles would meet his soulmate on the night that was probably the last night of his life.

“Wait, how did you know my name?” he asked his soulmate, waving his gun around. His soulmate gave him an exasperated look and covered Stiles’ hand with his own, holding it still.

“I recognized your scent, it’s been all over Laura and Cora since we’ve been in Beacon Hills,” he explained.

“Derek?” Stiles looked at him with awe, he had never imagined that his first meeting with his soulmate would be under these circumstances. He had always imagined a meet cute. But who was he kidding?

“I can’t believe you’ve been so close all this time and we’re meeting right before your uncle rips my head off,” he muttered and Derek’s eyes darkened, his hand cupping Stiles’ face gently. It was weird, that such an intimate touch by someone you just met could feel so right. Derek’s thumb brushed over the younger boy’s cheek, making him wince in pain. He totally forgot that Peter batted his head like it was a volleyball, he must look pretty beaten up.

“We should’ve known. Your theory was right all along, it’s been in front of our noses the whole time,” Derek growled softly and Stiles leaned into his touch, sighing. “Hey, it’s not your fault, none of you could have known. Where are Cora and Laura?”

“We split up. We weren’t sure if you had caught up with Peter and- and Kate yet, so we thought it’d be quicker this way. Cora’s been following some hunters that that were roaming the woods and Laura headed straight to our house.”

Suddenly a howl cut through the woods, but this one was different.

Derek’s eyes flashed blue, and he howled back, before grabbing Stiles’ hand. “It’s Cora, something’s wrong,” he told Stiles quickly, before they ran off, with Derek leading the way.

Stiles had at least thousand questions burning to be asked, but he knew this wasn’t the time. He really hoped he’d survive the night so he could get to know his soulmate.

In a small clearing ahead of them, Cora was facing two hunters, one with a crossbow and one with a gun, while she was pinned to a tree by an arrow.

Stiles noticed Derek’s rage and he looked at him, placed his finger over his lips before he slipped in between the trees, just behind the hunters. He shot a bullet into the sky, making the hunters turn away from Cora and Derek used that distraction to free Cora.

Stiles swiped his legs across the hunter’s legs, causing them to fall before he knocked them both out with a blow to the head, dusting off his hands, walking over to where Cora and Derek were standing.

“You okay?” Derek asked his sister, inspecting her wound. “Yeah, I’m fine. They noticed me following them,” Cora replied, brushing over the wound on her arm as it already started healed, when her eyes caught sight of her brother’s green timer. “You met your soulmate? When?”

“You guys okay?” Stiles asked and Cora turned around to him, glanced at his timer, before connecting the dots. “Okay this is gold,” she remarked gleefully, but Derek flared his nostrils, his eyes turning blue. “Can this wait, Cora?” he asked through gritted teeth when a howl sounded, followed by a loud roar.

While the howl sounded vicious and beast like, the roar held a certain power to it, shaking the woods as the sound travelled through the night.

“It sounds like a fight. But why would Peter fight Laura?” Stiles breathed out confused, his ears still ringing from the roar.

“He wants to steal Laura’s power,” Derek said, before starting to jog towards the house, clearly worried about his older sister.

“Come on Stiles, we have to go,” Cora urged the human and tugged him along as they started running again.

**_0000 days 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds_ **

The sight that greeted the three of them when they reached the Hale house was nothing but a glorious one: a majestic, black wolf fighting a vicious wolf beast.

Stiles barely kept up with the siblings as they raced to the fight with no hesitation. He figured the siblings always longed for a family reunion, but this was probably not the way they thought it would go. He kept his distance when Derek and Cora moved closer, but Peter managed to catch a whiff of his scent, when he looked over to Stiles, roaring in fury. Stiles could see that the wolfsbane bullet was still lodged in his ribcage and the skin around it bled thickly from scratches. He probably tried to scratch it out, but failed.

Laura got distracted momentarily by the arrival from her siblings, so Peter had the chance to knock her out, making the wolf yowl in pain. He leaned over Laura and his claw was raised, but Cora and Derek both charged at him, clawing at his back as much as they could.

Peter roared in pain before shaking them off, knocking them out cold when their heads hit the hard forest floor. Stiles looked at the werewolf in fear, his hands gripping the gun tightly, shooting several bullets at the werewolf as he prowled closer to him, the bullets barely slowing him down. He was just a couple steps away from Stiles when he shot the last bullet, tossing the gun to the side as he backed up slowly.

“It’s such a shame that I have to kill you,” Peter growled, his voice sounding barely human. “You’re resourceful, quick, smart, you figured out who I was before anyone else did. You would make a great werewolf…” he stopped then, tilting his head as if he was getting an idea.

“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad,” he rumbled and turned around, charging towards Laura who was getting on her paws, Derek and Cora stirring awake next to her.

“No!” Stiles yelled out and grabbed the knife that was sheathed by his calf and jumping on Peter’s back, ramming it into his shoulder. The wolf roared in pain, throwing his head back as Stiles lost grip on the shoulders, falling hard and hitting his head on a stone, moaning in pain.

Laura growled at Peter and pounced him, easily overpowering the omega and pinning him down. Cora winced in pain but rushed to her sister’s aide while Derek check on Stiles, helping him up.

“You okay?” Derek asked, his face etched with worry and Stiles held his hand, flinching in pain. “I will be,” he assured Derek and got up with Derek’s help, looking Peter as Laura shifted back into her human form.

 “Look at me,” Peter rasped when Laura stood over him. “I can’t heal without the power of an alpha, I need this.”

“You want Laura’s life so you can heal properly?” Cora asked, huffing out a breath as she kept him down. 

“You should have come to us first, Peter, we could have worked through this together. As a pack,” Laura said quietly. “Mom never would have wanted this for us. For you.” But still, at Laura’s soft voice, he lunged at her as Cora struggled to keep him still.

“I am sorry, Peter,” Laura said as her eyes flashed red, her claws coming down at his throat, ending her uncle’s life quickly.

“Go,” Stiles told Derek when he noticed the look in his eyes and Derek rushed forward, hugging his sisters.

He breathed heavily as he leaned against the three, watching the three siblings embrace tightly. He was happy that even though they lost most of their family, they still had each other, they still had a pack.

Arms linked, they headed over to Stiles, Laura grinning widely at him, starkly nude. Laura, please, put on some clothes?” Stiles groaned and she grinned at him, pulling on Derek’s jacket which he handed her. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes, but Stiles kept his mouth shut when the older girl hugged him. “Welcome to the family, Stiles.”

⏰⏰⏰

“Hey, I am really glad I got to make it out alive,” Stiles said as he and Derek walked back to his car, Derek supporting Stiles as they walked. “Yeah, me too,” Derek answered with a chuckle. “It’s funny how we’ve been so close all this time, but never actually met, huh?” Stiles asked and Derek hummed in agreement.

“I guess fate brought us together just in time.”

A comfortable silence settled over them. Stiles knew that they were bound to talk about everything that happened, about them, but for now, he really appreciated the silence.

It was nearly three am in the morning when Stiles pulled up in his drive way, all bruised and battered with three werewolves in tow, as Chris and Victoria stood in the door way, a mixture of shocked, relief and anger. Stiles felt Derek tense beside him at the sight of the Argents, and with a glance to the backseats where Laura and Cora were sitting, he found that three of them wore the same expression

He knew that this was not going to be easy, to try to bring together a peaceful co-existence of werewolves and hunters. But Stiles knew that the Hales were good people, and fate brought him and Derek together for a reason. Maybe their link wasn’t only to help them be better, but also create a common link between hunter and werewolves.

Stiles smiled tiredly at the Argents and raised his hands defensively.

“Just please let me explain first before you do anything rash,” he said and pulled his adoptive parents into a hug, before they ushered the four of them inside, though the werewolves seemed more than a bit reluctant to enter the house of hunters.

As Stiles sat down on the couch with the Hales, he noticed that the three coped differently: Derek stared down at the floor, Cora was looking around constantly, like she was trying to find an exit in case hell broke out, Laura sat straight and held her chin high, Stiles knew that it was a thing of showing strength, she was the alpha and she couldn’t look weak in front of hunters.

“Stiles, what is going on? We have been worried sick about you, we weren’t able to reach you,” Victoria said to Stiles, while keeping her eyes on the werewolves constantly. She clearly wasn’t too happy about having werewolves in her home. Stiles fiddled with his hands nervously and Derek reached over to squeeze his hand, which he repaid with a grateful smile.

Chris glanced at the two of them, before clearing his throat.

“Where’s Kate?”

“Our uncle Peter killed her,” Laura told him and Chris clenched his teeth.

“He was the rogue werewolf on the loose, but he wasn’t an alpha like you thought. He was an omega, but could fully shift into that form because our family was so powerful, due to being born werewolves. Peter was targeting people who were responsible for the fire, we found a pattern regarding all the victims.”

While Victoria was silent, Chris got up and paced around the living room, upset at the insinuation, making Stiles nervous.

“It was Kate, Chris. She set the fire, she killed innocent people, she killed their family!”

Chris seemed unconvinced as he looked at the Hale siblings, as Derek spoke up quietly.

“I was vulnerable, maybe even depressed when Kate found me. My girlfriend Paige was bitten by an alpha, but her body rejected the bite and I killed her to free her from the pain,” Derek flashed his blue eyes at the hunters.

“Kate took advantage of me and we- we had a secret relationship and she used everything I told her against me to kill my pack. But we weren’t a normal pack, everyone in our pack was also in our family, so also the humans in our family were part of the pack.”

“Our mother, our alpha, always lead the pack with morale and compassion. We never hurt anyone, and if something did happen, it wasn’t on purpose, it was because the younger werewolves couldn’t control their shift. We were innocent, we never shed blood. Your sister killed innocent people,” Laura said angrily, standing up, only to be pulled back by Cora.

Chris heaved out a tired, shocked breath before he sat back down next to Victoria and Stiles stared at his hands, unable to look at his adoptive parents.

“Is that the reason you were avoiding her?” Victoria asked and Stiles nodded. “I didn’t know how I could act like everything was normal.”

“What about Peter? You know we can’t let him go on without any consequences, he killed a lot of innocent people, too,” Chris asked and Laura nodded, holding the hunter’s gaze.

“You don’t need to worry about him anymore. I already took care of that.”

Chris gave her a nod of thanks. “Then I will take care of Kate’s body.”

He stood up and held his hand out to Laura, who hesitated, before shaking it. “I hope we can find some way to help each other out,” he said to her.

“I would like that,” Laura replied and motioned to leave, Derek and Cora immediately following her.

Stiles stood to bring them to the door, when Chris stopped him briefly.

“You go to bed and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow okay?”

“With Allison,” Victoria added and Stiles agreed, surprised, but happy, smiling at them. “Thanks for trusting me,” he hugged Chris and ran to the front door where Derek was waiting for him, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket.

“So that went well,” Stiles breathed out when he stopped in front of Derek, a smile on his face. “Yeah, I hadn’t expected that,” he admitted. “You know we also need to talk about some stuff right?”

“Yes, sure, of course,” Stiles answered quickly and scratched the back of his neck.

“Okay, good. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Derek mumbled softly, kissing Stiles on the cheek. “Get some rest,” he added before he turned on his heel to walk over where his sisters were waiting for him, leaving Stiles stunned by the front door, touching the spot on his cheek where Derek had just kissed him.

He smiled dumbly to himself, when he heard Chris call out from the living room.

“Bed, Stiles!”

“Ugh, did you really have to ruin this?” Stiles groaned and flushed, shutting the front door but not before hearing laughter from the werewolves as they left.

Really, what has his life become? But then again, he’d never trade for anything in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned to find out the soulmates from Cora and Laura o(^◇^)o
> 
> Come cry with me on tumblr: yessterekthings


End file.
